Virtual School Vision Statement: With a strong community as a foundation, we will foster effective teaching and learning practices while creating collaborative opportunities for our students and teachers to develop skills and knowledge that drive them to be productive citizens with a lifelong drive to learn.
In order to develop a school vision all staff must consider their goals for their school. Thinking in terms of backwards planning, with the end in mind first. Focusing on where they hope to see their school in the future in regards to teaching and learning. Staff members should be able to recognize a common direction of growth, be reminded of the purpose of their work, and inspire one another (Gabriel & Farmer, 2009). The school vision should be identified and understood by all faculty, parents, and students so they know where the school is developing and see how they can support the school direction (Gabriel & Farmer, 2009). Again, our virtual school vision statement is to sustain a strong educational community that fosters effective teaching and learning practices while creating collaborative opportunities for our students and teachers. That each learning community member of our school develops skills and knowledge to be productive citizens as lifelong learners.
community
Even though our school is online, our goal is to establish a strong sense of community for faculty and students. A school where everyone can contribute, share, question, reflect, inquire, and monitor their growth. We will do this by setting up support systems for each individual through academic advisers, teaching teams, instructional supports, and learning teams. A community atmosphere fosters success as it uplifts each individual. Students will be able to find support from one another and from their faculty. Faculty will be able to find support from their colleagues and in conjunction with their needs.
collaboration
In this modern age, the ability of professionals to collaborate is an accurate measure of their possible success. Students and faculty must be able to collaborate in a variety of ways and on a variety of projects and assignments. Students will be able to work together and communicate via our website and a variety of other collaboration tools such as wikis, google.docs, mapping sites, and presentation tools. Our goal is that each diverse learning team will conquer the distance and time barriers that present themselves when attending an online school through determination, perseverance, and research.
effective teaching & learning
Effective teaching and learning does not take place on a single platform. In the regular classroom, successful teachers teach and engage their students through a variety of instructional approaches, from direct instruction to student-led investigations and everything in between. Our goal is that our online school will follow this example. Students will learn and interact with the teaching staff through readings, videos, research investigations, and presentations. In this way we will meet the needs of a diverse body of learning styles.
lifelong learners
We want our students to be successful learners in our classroom, but we also want them to develop the skills they will need to learn how to conquer any problem they will encounter in their future careers as well. In a society where technology changes almost daily, there is no way that we can prepare our students for each issue they will encounter in the future, but our goal is to teach them how to handle obstacles so that they can surmount each problem that comes their way.
productive citizens
Our goal for each student is that they become knowledgeable, productive citizens for our world. Each and every person is capable of contributing in a positive way to make this world a better place. Our online school will provide an education for students that will boost them forward to reach and surpass their personal goals. We hope that this will help them to reach past themselves and out toward their communities and the world as global citizens.
References Gabriel, J. G., & Farmer, P. C. (2009). How to Help Your School Thrive. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
In order to develop a school vision all staff must consider their goals for their school. Thinking in terms of backwards planning, with the end in mind first. Focusing on where they hope to see their school in the future in regards to teaching and learning. Staff members should be able to recognize a common direction of growth, be reminded of the purpose of their work, and inspire one another (Gabriel & Farmer, 2009). The school vision should be identified and understood by all faculty, parents, and students so they know where the school is developing and see how they can support the school direction (Gabriel & Farmer, 2009). Again, our virtual school vision statement is to sustain a strong educational community that fosters effective teaching and learning practices while creating collaborative opportunities for our students and teachers. That each learning community member of our school develops skills and knowledge to be productive citizens as lifelong learners.
References
Gabriel, J. G., & Farmer, P. C. (2009). How to Help Your School Thrive. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.